I live in Klamath Falls and will definately try to make the next one. Best friends wedding got in the way this time. Keep us posted on upcoming trips !

 

Well, I started to do the write-up on the trip and got a little long-winded... I'm infamous for going on at length. Got a later start than planned and have well over 200 photos to sift through.

I'm about halfway through the trip report and will complete it tomorrow. Then, I'll work on the pics.

It's nearly bed time... sorry! I'm pooped and still trying to catch up on sleep.

 

The boys and i had a terrific time with Jim and Fred! They are still talking about the trip and how cool it was.

 

Hey all!

First, let me apologize for the long post! I did warn you that I can ramble on quite a bit though!

This trip was an absolute blast and the scenery was incredible! It made it that much better to have such great company! Really enjoyed running with you guys. Jim was great to chat with around the campfire and we definitely benefited from his years of Jeeping experience while out exploring. Steve and his boys were an absolute riot and fun to have along... They really brought the kid out in all of us.

As Jim said, the geology in the area is stunning and I'm also inspired to go out and explore more, especially having met such great JK folks to do this with. I've no doubt the others that couldn't make it this time would have been just as fun to have along. Definitely looking forward to seeing you the next time around!

Jim & I met up in Bend Friday afternoon and he (VERY patiently, I must say) waited for me to pick a few last minute items like all of the food I would need, ice, fuel, firewood... You know... just a couple of basic things one might need while camping! My excuse: I just plain ran out of time...

Then we ran out to the China Hat campground to make camp. Got there with no difficulty at all! It was easy to find, as it's clearly marked with the large, proper signage the USFS is known to provide, although I have to say the great big flood lights on the sign are a little much... That and the Ranger waving us in with those cool flashlights that airport ground crews use! Uhh... yeah...

Actually, we blew past the entrance before Jim realized that we'd missed it. I say Jim missed it, because I was following him and all I could see was the dust from his JK... I just kept saying to myself "Self, just follow that dust... Jim will get us there!" :toung: That's my excuse, and a poor one at that (again making excuses).

We didn't miss the campground by much and doubled back to the entrance. In fairness, Jim had spotted it, but it wasn't marked at all. As we pulled in, we met a couple of interesting guys that had biked from Denio, NV and were on their way home. Turns out they had already found, and from them we learned, the USFS had closed this particular campground.

No sign at the entrance at all and the porta-potties were removed. Weird! Budget cuts? We were also told the water had been locked off, but we never saw that. We'd packed plenty of water though and the lack of toilets was no big deal. The campsite was pretty nice and large enough to accommodate several Jeeps and tents.

Jim and I made camp and got a nice fire going. At one point a doe dropped by see what we were up to… Probably wanted to get a closer look at those JK’s! We then discussed heady and JK-appropriate topics such as tire/lift combinations, key JK modifications, great trails of the U.S., the more esoteric considerations of Jeep ownership and life’s mysteries in general… All while wondering when Steve and boys might get there… did they get lost, did Sasquatch get them or would they arrive in the a.m.?

Decided the latter was likely and was right… mostly! Hah! ‘Bout 3 a.m. and what do I hear, but the characteristic sound of a JK… close, REAL, close! I’m still amazed that they were able to find the place at that hour!

Got that HUGE tent set up… Dang man! That’s bigger than most people’s homes! Went back in my tent and crashed for a little while. Got up, had a little breakfast and we made the light run over to Fort Rock. It’s pretty stunning to see in the distance, but when you pull up to it, you really get a sense of scale and have to feel insignificant… (especially if you’re driving a pretty stock JK like mine… heheh!).

We then stopped by the town of Fort Rock, including the museum. Best 2 bucks I’ve spent in ages and the folks there were super friendly. In fact (as Jim already mentioned), everybody we bumped into was very nice and we got a lot of waves along the way.

From there we ran out to Crack In The Ground and hiked through this amazing fissure in the ground. Steve’s boys got a kick out of climbing around on the rocks. We were fortunate enough to overhear a geology group of some sort, possibly from a university, talking about the history of the area. Absolutely fascinating!

Next stop was Lost Forest and the Christmas Valley Dunes where we had a great time blasting through the sand. It was a bit like a rollercoaster ride on sand and in a much better ride… our JK’s!

After that we ran back to camp, stopping along the way to crawl up onto the hood of an abandoned and shot up Chrysler K car… Too funny! I’m still laughing when I look at those photos!

Got back to camp, had a nice dinner… Thanks for the steak, Steve! Actually, I should say thanks to Sam (Steve’s youngest)! Haha! Can’t imagine trading a burger for a steak, but I’m not complaining.

Sunday morning we had breakfast, packed up and headed out to find the Ground Hog rock crawling area. After circling the area… ahem… a couple of times, we finally found it and had fun running around on the rocks. Then went to the East Fort Rock OHV area to check it out with the hope that there would be at least a little bit of it that was 4WD-friendly. Sadly, JK’s and other street legal vehicles are not allowed on any of the trails there. That’s too bad. They’ve locked up quite a bit of nice land to only dirt bikes, quads and 3-wheelers. Oh well… I guess.

We left the OHV area and headed up to the Pine Mountain Observatory. Fantastic views of the surrounding terrain, Sisters & Mt. Bachelor!

Finally, we headed back to Bend to make our way home. Steve and boys stayed there overnight and came home the following morning, while Jim and I “convoyed” back to the PDX-area… Jim told me that 2 JK’s hardly constitutes a convoy, hence the quotation marks… Hah! Maybe next time it will be a real convoy!

I have to say this is the most fun I’ve had in a very long time! Good folks and a great experience! I can hardly wait to go again and I’m certain this will be one of many trips. We saw only a fraction of what can be seen/done there! To those that couldn’t go due to a variety of unfortunate circumstances, you were missed. I personally look forward to meeting up with more of this great JK community!

Well, now it’s time to sift through all of the photos I took… Will post some soon and burn them to disk for those that couldn’t come this go ‘round. Also going to place my order for that BB lift I so badly need...

Cheers!

 

So, as you can probably tell, I'm pretty excited about going again. How about the 3rd or 4th week of July? Lemme know if interested and suggest dates!

 

Hi drbeddow,

Will keep you on our contact list... Seems the group is growing and we'd love to have you along!

 

We might be up the July 28th -> 29th..... If you guys like the sand we could do a dune trip over on the coast.. Tons of fun.. And Miles of trails...

 

Could be fun! Don't have anything planned yet on those dates.

 

More to come later, but thought I'd throw a little teaser out there!

 

Great pics. Fred, can't wait to see the rest. I'm so glad you guys enjoyed it. When I came up with the Idea of going there, I was worried that not everyone would enjoy the high desert as much as Mrs. Rupedog and I do. I was really bummed all week end knowing that you guys were over there and I wasn't. I can't wait until I can go.